Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey is an earlier Austen, and I think it shows. While it’s not necessarily “simpler” than Emma or Pride and Prejudice (the only other Austen books I’ve read so far) it is less complex.
The crux of the plot is that Catherine Morland, a young woman in love with gothic novels, goes to Bath and, via miscommunication, she and her brother are believed to have considerably more money than they actually do, and acquire suitors based on that information. Catherine, meanwhile, constructs and epic gothic novel around Eleanor and Henry Tilney, siblings she befriends in Bath, and Catherine is later invited to visit Eleanor at their gothic home, Northanger Abbey.
I’ve seen this described as both a parody of gothic novels and a warning about too much fiction, and while I can see both arguments, I don’t agree with either. There is something of a cautionary warning about taking fiction too seriously and looking for it in reality, but I think there’s also a lot of love for fiction (and for love of fiction) too. And, really, I think that anyone who has ever been a teenager in love with fiction is going to see a bit of themselves in Catherine, though some may not like it. (Actually, my favorite bit re: fiction and reading was when Catherine said that she liked trashy gothic novels more than Serious Real Books because Serious Real Books didn't have enough women. Oh Jane Austen, if only you knew how persistent that would remain...)
In general, I liked this a lot and thought it was a fun read (note: I almost always like anything that features young women running around spooky old houses, looking for secrets) but had problems with a couple parts.
For one thing, while I like Henry and think he and Catherine will make a good couple eventually, most of their interactions, though showing them as compatible, also highlight the differences in their ages and experience, and I picture a lot of their conversations ending with her blinking in confusion. Not because she can’t be witty and clever herself, but because she’s younger and more sheltered, and not used to that near-relentless, sharp-tongued snark, and he doesn’t really let her catch up, which results in a very paternalistic vibe for me, even though I’m sure they’ll grow out of it. (I know some have a similar problem with Emma and Knightley, but while I can see why people have the problem there, it isn’t an issue there for me.)
But my main problem here is the treatment of Isabella. While I had an issue with Austen’s treatment of “golddiggers” in the other books, it wasn’t intrusive for me because I felt that Jane Fairfax and Lizzie Bennet were golddiggers too (for that matter, I see Emma as being a golddigger by proxy, as much of the book is her trying to marry women with fewer advantages to men she thinks will give them social and financial security, misguided as she may be) and that others weren’t published beyond Caroline Bingley not getting what she wants. And she’s still attractive, intelligent appealing and has a generous and probably indulgent brother, so while her situation isn’t perfect, she’s still better off than many. Isabella, meanwhile, is coming from a POV much closer to that of Jane Fairfax and the Bennet sisters, and I feel like she was judged and punished for things that others aren’t. Not only that, but she’s entirely off-page for much of that, and her story is largely seen through Catherine’s eyes. And while Catherine’s interpretation is understandable, she’s far from unbiased, and probably wouldn’t be very objective even without the personal investment. Also, while I doubt Isabella herself was completely innocent, I suspect Frederick is far more to blame for whatever happened. (He struck me as quite sleezy, tbh.)
However, I still quite liked the book despite the problems!